DOBA Knowledge

While in some companies employees have previously been working from home for at least part of the time, the changed circumstances and the transition to working from home pose a new challenge to the majority of them and their managers. Some employees will find this type of work to suit them (at least for a while), while for others, it will represent a major source of stress. Managers can respond differently to the new circumstances. In this period, their task is to organise work and manage employees while also making sure that they recognise and respond to potential problems associated with employees’ mental health and reducing the negative impacts of working from home. A sudden change in management styles can be very difficult for managers. They can find themselves worried about disruptions to the process for which they are responsible. Some managers believe that they must be physically present to be good managers, while others do not trust employees who they cannot see.

Regardless of your previous management style, the fact remains that managers of the future – all of them, without exception – must adopt new work and management styles. The success of working from home greatly depends on the managers and their engagement and support offered to employees (according to a 2020 Gallup survey, even in 70 percent of cases). We have therefore collected instructions to help you manage employees who work from home:

1. Communicate openly and often: Employees, who are used to working in the company, can feel cut off from the source of information or the relationships that they need to do their job. This means that you need to plan more conference calls. Send an email or publish videos about your decisions, intentions, and expectations. Share openly and often what the real impact of the crisis is on your business, and what to expect. If you don’t, employees will simply turn to the available network of information — websites, social media, etc. Strong leadership inspires all. Do not assume how the situation is affecting the employees. Allow them to share their experience, doubts, and needs so that you can adapt your approach to their potential worries.
2. Trust your employees: Remote-work success depends heavily on whether you trust employees to do their work even if you cannot see them. Managers often worry about the lack of supervision of employees when they work remotely. When employees are physically present, their effort and results are easier to assess. Working from home makes productivity more difficult to measure. Give the employees the chance to prove themselves and be creative in their work. This can make our corporate culture more inclusive and friendlier to different employees.
3. Establish rules of engagement when working from home: Remote work becomes more efficient and satisfying when managers set expectations for the frequency, means, and ideal timing of communication. Set clear expectations regarding employees’ working hours, availability, and foreseen meetings.
4. Set up work-from-home guidelines, e.g.: answering emails within 24 hours, using text for urgent matters, determining the main projects and deadlines, time for independent/quiet work when we do not call, etc. Managers must stay in daily contact with their remote employees.
5. Use videoconferencing: videoconferences have numerous advantages, especially for smaller teams. Videoconferencing offers visual cues to participants, similar as though you were meeting face to face. Visual cues enable maintaining the feeling of connectedness among employees and reduce the sense of isolation. Video is also particularly useful for complex or sensitive conversations, as it feels more personal than written or audio-only communication.
6. Provide fast and simple communication via mobile devices (like Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.) which can be used for simpler, less formal conversations, as well as time-sensitive communication.
7. Provide opportunities for remote social interaction: One of the most essential steps a manager can take is to structure ways for employees to interact socially (i.e., have informal conversations about non-work topics) while working remotely. This is true for all remote workers. The easiest way to establish some basic social interaction is to leave some time at the beginning of team calls just for small talk (e.g. “How was your weekend?”). This helps reduce feelings of isolation and promotes a sense of belonging.
8. Offer encouragement and emotional support: Especially in the context of an abrupt shift to remote work, it is important for managers to acknowledge the employees’ stress and uncertainties. They need to listen to employees’ anxieties and concerns, and empathise with their struggles. If an employee is clearly struggling with stress or anxiety, ask them how they are doing and how you can help.

Even though for numerous employees working from home is the best possible scenario in the current situation, many managers might find themselves struggling to cope with the situation. They might feel they do not have the situation under control or find that maintaining the same level of trust with a remote team is a challenge. However, this is the future of management and managers must adapt in order for the situation to work for all those involved.

Remote team management is an investment. It is exceptionally important how, at a time when the employees are greatly left to their own devices and have very little interaction with colleagues and the manager, relationships within the team and with the manager will be maintained or how they might even grow and develop. Once things return to normal and companies are back to business as usual, it will be important what kind of energy the employees bring back to work. The manager’s approach and attitude can significantly contribute to this energy being constructive and employees’ engagement at least at the same level as it was prior to transitioning to working from home.

We recommend that managers establish these “rules of engagement” with employees as soon as possible, ideally during the first online check-in meeting. Even though many managers are leading their teams remotely for the first time, they can succeed if they keep in mind the foundations of excellent management of employees working from home. During this time, we all need to keep a positive mindset, pay attention to each other, and be even more flexible. Let’s stay healthy.